There are people who hate this game, people who ignored this game, and then there's ME! XD

Obviously, I am making a post because I really, really enjoyed it.
It's a very creepy roguelike rpg.
I like it for a lot of reasons.
For once, there's no game over. You die and you "respawn". Sometimes dying triggers new memories or opens up previously blocked paths. The characters change what they say to you.

They don't explain anything to you, making you feel very miserable. The atmosphere is daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaark. You are blamed for the destruction of the world and it is expected of you to set it right.

I am linking the opening of the game because I really, seriously admire the game's world and artstyle, and maybe you will like it too.




this is the game's official (english) site
http://www.atlus.com/baroque/

My roommate has Baroque for PS2. I enjoy the opening sequence too, but I really cannot get into this game at all. The whole 'die', restart everything, and lose just about everything you earned has never sat well with me in an RPG. In fairness, there are orbs you can make use of to mitigate this somewhat, but it's just more item management to deal with. It's very similar to Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter with that in mind, including the constant ticking loss of your vitals bar (although in DQ, you were basically going ahead to your character's self destruction as a dragon is trying to tear itself out of you).

Maybe this is a love it or hate it kind of game, but the entire set up feels extremely frustrating and gimmicky. Randomized mazes, dull voice acting or writing (Coffin Man), uninspired hacking combat... I don't really have a lot of positive things to say about it. I will admit some of the enemy designs are pretty good and the equipment styles aren't bad.

I would have to say the game has a brutal learning curve and requires a ton of patience. The only rpg game I thought where time concerns weren't an issue, is probably the current Personas. As for the dying and revealing new things to your character/advancing the plot, Planescape: Torment really had that down. And without punishing the player much. Although the game has a dark dismal atmosphere I conventionally enjoy, I wasn't able to get through the constant vagueness of whatever was going on coupled with playing this game fresh largely felt like a chore after a few hours.

A game is a game, so if you don't find it funny, then there is not a lot of point in playing.
...I insist on finding Baroque highly entertaing and misterious, and all around awesome, but "enjoyment" of a game is highly subjective, so it's not like I'm going to argue that. If you don't like it, I'm glad you only borrowed it, because I would have been sad if I had bought a game I didn't like XDDD

I have played the persona games (I enjoyed 3 very, very much, and I am waiting for 4!) and spent months with Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (possibly the hardest game I've played and finished, since levelling up is not my favorite thing to do)
I also liked Dragon Quarter, I thought it was a very original and underrated game.

This year, I've been jumping around like a little girl telling everybody about the english release of Baroque, and some kind gamers recommended Planescape:Torment to me. After playing it, I pretty much agree, it deserves all the praise it can get :) (I really enjoyed the dialogues, and I really liked that you could talk your way out of almost anything!)

The original Baroque was released for the Sega Saturn, circa 1999, so, although it doesn't preceed the original Megaten games, it came out quite at the same time as Planescape:Torment. I don't think either game "borrows" from the other. I just think that Nine Inch Nails was really popular at the time, or something, and everybody felt more goth and less emo. LOL

I just find the whole "punishment" in Baroque (loss of items, loss of levels, restarting from the very top of the tower, etc)
very much linked to the story. Being punished, and being completely in the dark about everything is pretty much Baroque in a nutshell. I enjoy putting all the little pieces of the story together and trying to come up with theories and stuff XD

It's a game about atmosphere, though, not about plot, and like I said at the beginning of my rather lenghty post, if you don't find it entertaining, then heck, nothing I can say will make it entertaining for you. I just talk about what makes it entertaining and special...to me.

You seem to play games I like. Would you recommend me some? (...I am assuming that you have played the fallout games already, right? because why waste time reading my post when you could be playing fallout2? :D)

Heh, I love Nocturne. One of my all time favorites.
Aside from Baroque, Torment, and Dragon Quarter, I don't know of any other RPGs involving the death mechanic.
I've barely touched Fallout, actually. Not out of any opinion, mind you, just never had much access to the series. I did get a few hours on the most recent one and it was pretty good.

If you can handle 'tank controls', sometimes obscure solutions, and particularly atmosphere, I'd recommend the Silent Hill series, although that's not an RPG.

As shooters go, I feel Bioshock stood away from the herd. Very different design and a unique world feel to it without being a gigantic slaughterfest within grey walls compared to F.E.A.R. Prey is another good shooter with some Portal-like elements to it, although it's pretty gory.

I feel a lot of the really good 'gain xp' type games came out yesteryear aside from what's been mentioned. If you haven't touched them but can get an emulator or what not, give Earthbound and Castlevania's Symphony of the Night a run. Excellent SNES titles. There's really nothing at all like Earthbound.

I'm not big on survival games because I play for stoooooooooooory and I like the BIG stories rpgs have.
I really like silent hill's music. (SH3's ost is remarkably good, at least for my taste) but the gameplay is not really my cup of tea. I admit they know how to create atmosphere and they can make you leap out of your seat!

Bioshock is a shoot-em-up, isn't it? Is it mega hardcore hard, or could a person with little practice get the hang of it? I have heard good things of the story, but I was always reluctant to try it.

Symphony of the Night! Another game with an awesome soundtrack (and very nice artwork). What I liked about symphony of the night is that IT.NEVER.ENDS. (I feel devastated when a game is shorter than 20 hours, rpgs will do that to you XD)

Earthbound I know nothing about. I might give it a try!
If I like it, I'll report back to you. :)

Bioshock is really, really easy. On the rare occasions that you do actually die, you respawn about two feet away with no penalties at all. I still enjoyed it though, if only for Sander Cohen.

Agreed with Custard, Bioshock is very simple for the death/revival mechanic alone. Even if you're having trouble, you can just pop back in with no real loss.